Broken
by SunshineGirl2500
Summary: Midori Nakasone is a vizard living with the gang in the world of the living. She tries to supress her hollow and hide her tortured life, but she can't move on without facing her past. Shinji/OC. Starts in TBTP and works its way farther in the future.
1. Chapter 1

_Midori Nakasone was a tortured soul. Her life in Soul Society had dealt her a fate that she was not disserving of. Midori was quiet, modest, and very sweet, but she always looked tired or weak, like she had not slept in days. Because of what she was given, she had to fear for her life everyday. Midori was strong once, but she had been broken down into nearly nothing. There was a time when Midori was not so reserved and scared, a time when she could stand up for herself and throw back a punch. Midori had always been a nice person, she used t be strong, but now she was a sweet person who ad no will to stand up for herself. Midori was not only a beautiful person on the outside, but she was on the outside as well. She had dark brown hair she used to clip back with rose barrettes that Captain Otoribashi gave her as gift when he first met her as his third seat. He gave those to her the day she left to become the squad ten lieutenant. Also the day her torture began. She had pale skin and the most electrifying green eyes you would ever see. After Midori had become the tenth's lieutenant everyone noticed the change in her personality. She became more reserved and modest. She seemed to grow weaker and seemed to always be scared. There were reasons for this, but Midori never told anyone. She didn't want to be a bother to anyone. She actually thought she was a bother to her own friends. That is how broken she became. _

_ The day she met her captain for the tenth division is the day she died a second time, emotionally. She relieved that day in her dreams every night, but there was never anyone to help her through those horrible nightmares. Sometimes she wishes she were dead because of the pain he caused her. She was forced to do his job for him. At least one good thing came of her transfer. She got to see Rose a lot and Shinji even. She had to run a lot of errands and messages to other captains. From that they all found a liking in the sweet but meek Midori. Even Kensei would beat the hell out of anyone who looked at her wrong. Midori and her captain had not been seen together very often and many noticed Midori's habit to apologize too often. Midori often told them it was just a habit, but they felt like there was more to her little 'traits.' _

_ "Come into my office, Nakasone." Her new captain ordered her. Willingly, suspecting nothing, she followed her captain. Her new captain shut the door behind her. Midori still faced the desk, but to her surprise was slapped across her face by her captain. _

_ "C-captain, what was that for?" she asked angrily_

_ "Shut up!" he ordered as he hit her harder this time so she fell to the ground. Midori landed with a painful thud, _

_ "Captain, what the hell's the matter with you! Why are you doing this?" Midori asked with her electric green eyes glaring at her commander_

_ "I told you to keep your goddamn mouth shut!" he kicked her sides "You…you think you can go on reminding me of her?" _

_ "Her? Who's her?" Midori asked holding her sides painfully. _

_ "You're just like her! You just have to remind me of my dead wife don't you?" her captain asked screaming. He grabbed her up by her collar and punched her face until bruises formed and blood leaked from her nose. _

_ "S-stop it captain! Stop!" Midori ordered, but she was answered with a punch to her stomach making her cough blood, "P-please…" she begged. Midori never begged before. He threw her into a shelf and the whole thing toppled. She rolled out of the way, but the shelf hit her leg. She suppressed her cries, but tears leaked from her eyes, "C-captain…stop please…it hurts." Midori begged the man in front of her. _

_ "You'll pay for taunting me so, bitch." The monster said yanking her hair painfully. "If you tell anyone about this, I'll kill you or worse." He left Midori on the ground to bleed and almost die. All Midori could think to do was cry. Why had she been beaten? Why didn't she fight back? Her whole body hurt. Her right eye was swollen shut and black and blue. Her ribcage was completely covered in bruises and she had broken a few ribs more likely. She wished Rose was there to save her. She wished someone would save her. _

_ "I'm sorry…captain." She said as she lost consciousness. _

_ Years went by with the same treatment. Midori was abused by her captain and she never told a soul. She managed to figure out that she reminded her captain of his wife, whom he loved dearly, but died. Not a day went by when Midori didn't acquire a new bruise or other injury. She had been broken from her confident self into a weaker and reserved girl. Many wondered why she always looked battered and beaten, but she told them it was a training accident. Shinji and Rose had their suspicions. Seeing Midori beaten like that pissed him off more than anything, even Hiyori couldn't piss him off that much. While she was still in squad three, Shinji had made a close connection with Midori. He told her 'If that same guy you're 'training' with does the same thing again, I'll kick his ass.' Shinji knew better than to think Midori was telling the truth about her appearance everyday. Rose had often confronted her captain about why Midori was always hurt. He told him it was training, and that they were hardcore when it came to practice. Rose left still not satisfied with the answers he got. So every night someone confronted him about Midori she was beaten even worse than usual and because of that she would end up hospitalized in squad four. After numerous treatments, Captain Unohana would not tolerate such treatment any further. She confronted the other squad members of the tenth, but they said they never trained with Midori and that they hardly ever saw her. Unohana went straight to Midori's captain and, much to her horror, found him beating Midori. She managed to incapacitate the other captain and save Midori's life, which had almost been taken from her than night. After Captain Yamamoto was alerted of squad ten captain's treatment to his subordinate he had him stripped of his captaincy and put in prison for a number of years, but the captain died after committing suicide. Midori begged Head Captain Yamamoto and Captain Unohana never to alert the other captains about her abuse. She claimed she didn't want to interfere with work. Yamamoto agreed to Midori's wishes as did Unohana, but with more reluctance. At this moment of her life, Midori would need support from her friends. Midori went about her normal life and many noticed how she grew stronger, but she was never that same person she was before she joined squad ten. She never told anyone, not even Rose or Shinji knew. All Midori cared about was making sure her friends never had to worry about her. _

_ Now that life was far behind her. She was residing in the world of the living now with the others who had been hollowfied by Aizen. She would need to work hard to suppress her inner hollow. She knew being hollowfied was probably a horrible thing, but she was glad the others were with her the whole way. She had tried so hard to put that life and that abuse behind her, but until one faces their past one can never move on. _

**A/N: Okay, so his is like a prologue to the real story. Midori is not the same person as she is in my other fic 'Pretty Eyes.' This is Au-ish so it won't follow the Bleach plot exactly because of my OC. I hope you enjoyed it and it will get better. And yes, Midori is a vizard too. **


	2. Chapter 2

_Midori was covered in injuries, the injuries given to her by her captain. Images of her being beaten flashed through her mind. The image of Captain Unohana's terrified and disgusted face flashed from the shadows. Midori's tears fell from her eyes. Why did this have to happen to her?_

Midori shot up from her bed. She had sweat and tears running down her pale face. Her chest was heaving up and down from that nightmare. Every night it was the same routine. She had a nightmare and pretended it was nothing. She looked around her small room. She remembered that life was long gone. Well at least the abuse was. It was only just a few days ago that they had arrived in the world of the living. They had lost count of how long they spent in hiding in Soul Society. After Kisuke had made what he called a gigai suitable enough they moved on to the world of the living where they happened to find an abandoned shop. Kisuke was kind enough to let them all stay there until they found another place to stay themselves. Midori let her eyes travel around the small room. She knew she was safe. Physically all of her wounds had healed. There was hardly any trace of her abuse except for her hidden memories. Midori would never be the same strong girl she was before her abuse, but if she ever got help she might come close. Midori took a deep breath and got up from her bed. As much as Midori loved Kisuke as a friend, his choice in human clothes seemed interesting. He got Midori a purple and white striped shirt that was a few sizes too big and because Midori was small to begin with it did not flatter her in any way. She also wore blue jeans and blue shoes. Midori peeked out of her room and took a step out. She walked to where Kisuke and Tessai had set up a table. She sat quietly waiting for the others to wake up. She was startled by someone placing a plate before her on the table,

"You should really eat somethin' Dori, ya look so thin ya cold blow away." The other said. Midori looked up to see ex-captain Shinji Hirako with a light blush. Shinji still had his long hair, but was highly considering cutting it. Midori go up and bowed,

"Good morning sir." She said forgetting that was all over, but habit was habit.

"Hey, I'm not a captain anymore so no more formalities got it?" Shinji ordered with that same old smile. She nodded, "C'mon, Rose is in the kitchen, your breakfast is a little hot anyway so let it cool and come with me." Midori did not have the nerve to disobey. She went through the door to see Rose and Tessai. Rose went over to Midori with a gentle smile,

"Good morning Midori." He greeted her. Rose had been almost like a father to her over the years of work together. He brushed a piece of hair from her face as he did she almost flinched but remembered Rose would never hurt her, he wouldn't. Rose felt Midori's forehead as he brushed the hair from her eyes, "Midori, are you feeling well? You're burning up."

"Oh…I'm fine, I just had a wild dream last night. It was nothing." Midori said smiling. Shinji put his hand to the top of Midori's head too,

"A dream, really? Well, what was this 'dream' about?" Shinji asked knowing better

"Oh, I can never remember my dreams." Midori said with a fake smile, "I'll cool off eventually."

"Alright, maybe a warm breakfast will help." Shinji said not totally believing her. Shinji pushed her back to the other room but as soon as they got to through the door they saw a certain blonde haired ex-lieutenant shoving the warm meal into her mouth. "What the- Hiyori! You little brat, that meal was for Midori!" Shinji said angrily.

"Well it doesn't have her name on it!" Hiyori said eating the toast in Shinji's face to taunt him further. Shinji tackled the smaller one trying to get the toast from the girl.

"C-come on, guys it's alright, food's nothing to fight about!" Midori tried to break it up, but to no avail.

"Just leave them Midori; stopping a fight between them would be like trying to stop the world from turning." Rose said carelessly. Another came through the door,

"What's with all the damn noise, it's seven in the morning!" Kensei said angrily

"KENSEI!" Mashiro said loudly

"Shut up!" Kensei ordered her

"Kensei's a meanie!" she squealed.

"Everyone shut up, I can't deal with all of this chaos this early in the morning!" Lisa yelled adjusting her glasses. At that everyone stopped what they were doing. Love walked to see Hiyori with Shinji by his collar, Kensei trying to keep Mashiro at arm's length, Rose and Midori standing awkwardly not knowing what to do, and Lisa about ready to throw her book at someone. As if everything were normal Love shook his head and walked to a chair and sat eating a piece of toast. Kisuke walked in with Yoruichi,

"Alright that's quite enough for now, please sit. We have a lot to talk about." He said uncharacteristically serious. Everyone found a seat and faced the man who saved their lives. "First and foremost we need to discuss our next move from here. It can probably be agreed we can never go back to Soul Society."

"But…but what if we proved Aizen was a jerk, wouldn't we be able to return then?" Mashiro asked

"You idiot, even if we caught the bastard they would never believe us. They wanted to kill us just because we have hollow parts in us, so why would they listen to people with hollows in them." Hiyori said angrily

"Hey, Mashiro was only trying to help, I don't see you coming up with any bright ideas, snaggletooth." Shinji said defending the childlike girl.

"Can we please stay on topic? I think the best we can do right now is to assure all of us are safe. Luckily the gigai technology I've given all of you conceals your spiritual pressure. There's no way you'll be found here." Kisuke said to stop an argument before it started

"But if we don't stop Aizen, wouldn't that put everyone in Soul Society and here in danger?" Rose asked

"I don't think we'll have to worry about Aizen at the moment." Yoruichi stepped in

"Why is that?" Love asked raising his eyebrow

"Aizen was only experimenting, right?" Yoruichi asked rhetorically, "Well with such a result as this he's going to need a lot more time to accomplish what he's trying to do. Besides he doesn't have the one thing he needs most."

"What would that be?" Hiyori asked in disbelief

"The Hougyoku," Kisuke answered, "It's something I've created that will give him absolute power. Whatever the situation Aizen must never get a hold of it, but so long as he doesn't have it there's nothing to worry about."

"How can we really be safe, as long as these hollows are in us there's a chance we could lose control." Lisa asked, "Think about it, when Kensei and Mashiro were first hollowfied or whatever, they were overtaken by that hollow and they attacked us, no offense."

"I may have found a way to take care of that, but there's nothing I can do myself." Kisuke said. All of them looked at Kisuke confused, "What needs to happen is…well you all need to defeat your inner hollow."

"What do you mean exactly Kisuke?" Midori asked quietly

"Do you mean we're going to have to fight ourselves?" Shinji asked

"Not technically, what will happen is you all will be able to make a connection with that hollow and you must defeat it before it can defeat you. If you are defeated by your hollow, you will be overtaken and you will have to be destroyed before you can kill others." Kisuke explained.

"How exactly do we make the connection?" Kensei asked

"I can get you connected it's your job to do the fighting." Kisuke told him, "Once one gets control of the hollow they'll be able to call upon those powers, it'll be like you're the one in control of the hollow instead, but there's a time limit to how long one can hold the power. The limit depends on how hard you train. The longer you train the longer you hold your hollow power." Kisuke explained. "On a lighter note, anyone want more tea?"

"So when do we start fighting with ourselves?" Shinji asked

"Whenever you want." Kisuke said, "But who should go first?" Shinji stood and stretched carelessly,

"I'll go." He said smiling. Midori looked up at the man with her electric green eyes, "Don't look so worried Dori, I'll be fine." Shinji said smiling at her. Shinji turned to Kisuke, "So how does this work?" Kisuke, without a warning, used a kido spell on the man.

"Hey, Shinji!" Lisa called out

"Don't worry, he'll be fine this is the way to make the connection." The former squad twelve captain told them all. "In just a few moments Shinji will begin to fight his hollow and it will be as if the hollow has taken him over. If Shinji has not won an hour or so after his fight has begun, he will have to be destroyed." All eyes in the room widened. "Since there is a risk for all of you while fighting, Yoruichi and I will take the liberty of fighting Shinji off until he has beaten his hollow." The group followed Kisuke to the training grounds they rebuilt when they arrived in that world. Tessai set Shinji down and trapped him in a barrier. Shinji suddenly began to turn into a hollow. Shinji lost all control and went crazy. Midori's eyes widened in disbelief that the one she knew as a captain was now possessed by a hollow. "Tessai, I'm going in." Kisuke told the man. Tessai opened the barrier as the waves of spiritual pressure blew everybody's hair and clothes. Kisuke raised his sword, Benihime, and the fight began. Midori could only hope Shinji would win. He had to.


	3. Chapter 3

Midori sat outside of the barrier fidgeting nervously. Shinji was starting to really get into his hollow transformation. Well, Midori could guess it wasn't actually Shinji. Well it was his body. But it was his soul- this whole process was too confusing for Midori to think about. She wasn't always one of complicated thinking. Midori looked upon the battle between Kisuke and Shinji unable to believe that one day that'll be her. Midori may have been a good fighter, but if she could avoid it she would talk herself out of a fight instead; hard to believe for the former lieutenant of squad ten. Midori felt a shiver go down her spine at the memory of squad ten. Midori sighed with her eyes closed to forget the action in front of her for a few moments.

"Why so glum, Midi?" Rose asked sneaking up next to her. Midori nearly jumped a foot in the air at the sound of his voice,

"D-don't do that Rose!" she squealed turning to the ex-captain. Rose chuckled at the green eyed girl, "You know I don't like it when people sneak up on me!" she said crossing her arms with a blush. She was embarrassed because she could get scared so easily.

"Sorry Midi, I didn't mean to." Rose said with a chuckle. Rose called her 'Midi' but he honestly couldn't remember where he got the nickname for her. "Anyway back to my question." He continued

"I'm not 'glum' I guess I'm just…I don't know what I am, okay!" Midori said not knowing how she felt. "I guess I'm just worried. What if one of us isn't able to defeat the hollow inside?" she asked looking at the blonde, "What if I can't defeat it?"

"Don't be ridiculous Midi; we're all going to defeat our hollows, just you wait." Rose said ruffling her hair. Something caught Rose's eye, "Hmm you're still wearing those barrettes I got you when you were in my division."

"Yeah, they mean a lot to me." Midori told him

"Well, now that we're in the world of the living we're going to have to get a change of style." Rose said, "I know Kisuke is a genius in technology, but these clothes aren't really-how to put it- good." Rose said looking at his own clothes which were black pants and a plain white shirt with a purple stripe, "This outfit just isn't my style." He said looking at himself. Midori laughed. Rose always knew how to make her smile even when she was sad. Midori looked back to the fight. She needed to start wearing a watch,

"Hey, Kensei!" she called out. The grey haired man looked back to where she was, "How long has this fight been?" she asked hoping there was still time to spare.

"About fifty minutes and forty seconds." Kensei answered "If he wants to stay sane he'll have to when in about fifteen minutes or so." Kensei said sternly.

"Kensei, what's going on? Why is Shinji and freaky looking?" Mashiro asked pointing to the hollowfied Shinji."

"You fool, weren't you listening earlier?" Kensei asked shaking with anger at his old lieutenant. Why he kept her on as his lieutenant, he'll never know.

"Kensei's a big jerk!" Mashiro shouted again. Kensei closed his eyes with an exasperated sigh. If that girl's hollow didn't kill her he would.

Midori looked on to the battle sternly. Shinji just had to win. Midori wondered what fighting her hollow would be like. There were so many ways the battle could go. Midori knew time was ticking by and Shinji only had a few more minutes to defeat his hollow. The waves of spiritual pressure blew her hair gently through the barrier. Suddenly Midori saw Shinji's body start to…crack? The hollowfied parts of him started to fall away as Kisuke exited the barrier. The shell cracked away and turned to dust. Midori's eyes looked on with confusion. Had he won? She saw Shinji fall to the ground. Seeing someone who meant so much to her fall scared Midori every time. She got up and tried to run to the barrier, "Shinji!" she cried out, but Rose took her shoulders and stopped her. He wouldn't risk it; Shinji might still be a hollow might hurt Midori. Tessai took away the barrier and the spiritual waves faded. Kisuke walked up to Shinji who appeared to be 'human' again.

"How do you feel?" the man asked. Shinji looked up with his mask falling off, only to reveal a huge smile,

"Like a million bucks." Shinji said getting up. All of the others approached the long haired man loaded with questions,

"What was it like?" Lisa asked

"Was it hard to win?" Kensei asked

"Why were you so freaky looking?" Mashiro asked again. Kensei continued to argue with Mashiro while Shinji answered the questions as best he could. Midori approached him with a smile. Shinji ruffled her brown hair,

"See Dori, I told you there was nothing to worry about." Shinji told her bending down to her level.

"I know you did." Midori said admitting she was wrong.

"Midi was worried sick about you and your hollow." Rose told Shinji with a chuckle

"Rose!" Midori said blushing a deep red, "I wasn't worried about just Shinji I was worried about everyone and you know it!" she said defensively. Rose patted her head with a laugh

"Cool off Midi, I was just kidding!" Rose said to the short girl. "But you know Shinji, you did give us all quite a scare, you were brimming on going over time to defeat that hollow."

"Really, didn't seem that long? Kensei what was my time?" Shinji asked

"Fifty nine minutes and forty-five seconds." Kensei answered

"Man, I thought I did a little bit better than that!" Shinji said rubbing his head in disappointment. Kisuke came up to the rest of them with a mysterious look,

"Shinji, now that you have control of your hollow, you can train to hold your time in you mask. It'll take a lot of work, but train hard and it'll be worth it. Soon enough if you're lucky all of you will be able to control you hollows." Kisuke told the group.

"Ah, it'll be a piece of cake! Beating your hollows not as hard as you think it is." Shinji told the others carelessly.

"If it's so easy why'd it take you so long?" Hiyori asked with a snap

"Well let's see you do it any faster snaggletooth!" Shinji yelled back to her. That earned him one of Hiyori's famous kicks in the face. "Why- you little brat you're gonna pay!" the two attacked each other and rolled around on the ground hitting and biting each other,

"Now, now can't we all get along?" Hachi asked awkwardly.

"Don't even try to stop them. It ain't worth the effort it'll just be in one ear and out the other." Love said adjusting his sunglasses.

"Alright you two that's enough there's plenty of time to kill each other later but as for now the day's still young so who wants to go next?" Kisuke asked the group. The whole group, excluding Shinji, froze. Who knew that they would be moving on so quickly? Midori looked at everyone's face. It was like they wanted to, but they were afraid to try. Midori knew she would never be safe to fight or for her friends until she defeated her hollow. She clenched her fists,

"I'll go!" she shouted. Everyone turned to where she was. She felt so small under their gazes.

"What?" Rose asked, Midori had never been one to jump into things like this

"I-I'll go." She repeated. Shinji looked at her sternly

"Are you sure, Dori, I was just joking, this is dangerous." Shinji told her about his behavior earlier

"I'll have to go eventually, so why not go now? Besides the sooner I gain control the sooner I can live without being so scared of losing control." Midori said rubbing the back of her head nervously.

"Alright then." Kisuke snuck in front of her and held out his hand to her face as she fainted. "I hope you know what you're in for, Midori." Kisuke turned to Tessai, "Alright Tessai, you know what to do." Tessai locked her in the same barriers as he did earlier for Shinji. Shinji ad Rose had their eyes locked to the fight.

"_Whatever ya do Dori, don't go gettin' yourself killed." _Shinji thought to himself.

Midori opened her eyes to see she was in the same place she was when she met her zanpakuto. It was twisted forest with oddly shaped branches and trunks and plants. Midori looked about as she got up and saw it, the hollow that haunted her mind almost every day. This is when it would all end. Midori looked at the hollow. It was identical to her, but it was black and white. The hollow approached her with its identical zanpakuto and swung at Midori. She blocked with her own and slid back from the force of the strike.

"So you finally came to see me? It's been so long and I was beginning to worry, Lady!" The hollow said tauntingly. Midori narrowed her eyes at the tone of the other's words.

"This is where Mori Hotaru should be? What have you done with her?" Midori asked. Her zanpakuto had been so close and now she was gone.

"You better take a closer look, Lady, Mori Hotaru is standing right in front of you!" the hollow laughed manically. Midori clutched her zanpakuto tightly.

"You liar!" Midori flew forward and clashed blades with the hollow.

"Can't you see clearly? I am Mori Hotaru!" the hollow said swiping back. "When you were hollowfied I was born and soon I took control over Mori Hotaru and she changed form into this you see before you!" the hollow attacked again. If what this hollow was saying was true Midori couldn't destroy her, could she? She would be destroying her own zanpakuto. Suddenly the hollow delivered several lighting fast swipes that Midori barely blocked each time. The hollow managed to land a scratch on her shoulder and forced her to crash into a tree. "What's the matter? You don't want to fight?" Her hollow punched Midori further into the tree making Midori cough up blood. Every memory of squad ten filled her vision. Visions of her being beaten and nearly killed filled her mind. The very thought of that monster made Midori's body tremble and her mind stop, "If you have no will to fight that only makes you weaker and gives me more control!" She threw Midori into the ground and stood above her, "Having bad memories? Mori Hotaru and I share memories so I know your secret. You're so weak you couldn't stand up to your captain. I will never be subjugated by the likes of you!" the hollow stabbed Midori's shoulder and pinned her there as she twisted the blade around. Midori cried out remembering the similar feelings of pain she had when her captain did the same things. That hollow was using her painful memories against her. The hollow took away the blade and picked her up by the shirt. She back handed Midori on the cheek into another tree and she came crashing back to the ground. Midori's will to fight nearly disappeared after being reminded of her past. That hollow appeared above her with a sinister smile. "You're finished!" Suddenly images of Shinji and Rose and the others replaced the horrible memories from earlier. They all smiled and she remembered they were there for her and they needed her to win. She couldn't lose. Not this time. The hollow pushed her sword down ready to stab Midori in the chest, but she was stopped. Midori had blocked the strike with the side of her blade.

"Maybe you're right, maybe I am weaker because I hate violence and I can't stand up for myself, but I have people who are counting on me to destroy you! So for them I'll fight you even if I get scared because of my memories! I will defeat you, because losing to something like you isn't an option for me!" Midori raised her zanpakuto, "Light the Way, Mori Hotaru." Her sword began to change into its released form. It was a bow staff with a green vine wrapped around it and huge leaves at both ends. Midori formed a ball of her pure spiritual pressure which was green. She pulled it back so it was in the form of an arrow. "I won't be subjugated by the likes of you." Midori said coldly. She released the arrow and it hit the hollow scare in the chest and ran her through.

"How did you do that? It's not possible! Someone as weak as you could never be able to defeat me! You're supposed to be like a scared little girl in the night!" the hollow screamed

"Sometimes you find things that are more important than being a scared little kid." Midori answered sternly.

"You better not get to used to this, because the moment I see you've let your guard down I'll take over and annihilate you're soul completely!" the hollow said as she disappeared.

On the outside Midori's hollowfied form began to crack and fall away. They all looked to her body surprised,

"Is it over already?" Shinji asked. Midori stood without any traces of her hollow aside from her mask. Her new mask was a bug like Mashiro's, but its antenna went outwards and its eyes were tilted in and sharper. The mouth was a square with small lines. The mask fell away and Midori went to her knees from exhaustion. "Midori, are you alright?" Shinji asked as he knelt next to her. Shinji only called her 'Midori' when he was truly worried about her.

"Yeah, I'm fine! Best I've felt all day." Midori said smiling and sitting back up. Rose walked back over with a look of relief.

"Midi, you're alright!" Rose said hugging her. Midori winced at his hug, but forced a smile,

"See, I knew what I was doing!" Midori said proudly. Kensei and the others went over to where Midori was as well,

"Geez kid, your time was forty-five minutes and fifty seconds." Kensei told her looking at his stop watch.

"Really? Are you sure?" Midori asked in disbelief

"Hm, not bad Dori." Shinji said helping her up.

"I'm going to beat that first!" Hiyori claimed. The others chimed in listing what time they would get. Midori rubbed her head awkwardly,

"I guess you've started a competition, Midi." Rose said jokingly

"I really didn't mean to! I'm sorry, really!" Midori apologized over and over. Kisuke smiled at the group of ex-soul reapers. They had a long road ahead, but as long as they had each other they'd be fine.

"So who's going next?" Kisuke asked

"I am!" the remaining members yelled all at once. Kisuke was attacked and ended up on the bottom to a dog pile while his arms were being pulled mercilessly to get him to perform the kido spell on one of them.

"Here's a new deal whoever's not torturing me gets to go!" things took off from there and they were all on their journey to controlling their hollows. Midori took a sigh of relief after her battle and could rest a little bit easier, but the last words of her hollow still rung in her ears. She wouldn't let that happen. If she could defeat her hollow so could the others! She won't be haunted by its voice. The only things haunting her now was…well you probably know.


	4. Chapter 4

About a week passed as the same routine ensued. Each day someone one would try to defeat their hollow while the others worked on their retention time. So far almost everyone had conquered their hollow and the only ones left to do so were Hiyori and Lisa. Even though a majority of the group had already defeated their hollows, Midori still held one of the shortest times among them. Midori's retention time increased at a steady rate each day. She could hold her power for about two minutes so far, which wasn't that bad considering she just started. Kisuke instructed them that the best way to train was to spar against one another for as much time as possible. Midori watched her friends fighting one another admiring how dedicated they all were to getting stronger. Midori wanted to be strong too, but there was no way to be her strongest as long as her memories haunted her the way they did. Midori's mind was brought away from her thoughts as she saw Mashiro zooming in to attack her. Midori blocked the attack with the side of her zanpakuto, but was pushed back from the force. Midori flew back to Mashiro with a quick swipe to the latter's waist. Mashiro dodged and slid back to watch Midori's next move. Midori could keep up with Mashiro's speed, but just barely. Midori put her mask on and attacked. Mashiro put her mask on too. She knew she didn't have to train, but sometimes she still liked to. Midori brought the blade down, but Mashiro slid out of the way and kicked at Midori's head. Midori barely blocked that attack with her arm. The fight continued until it came when Midori took another swing and Mashiro managed to kick Midori's chest and send her plummeting to the hard ground. She met the surface with a terrifying impact and rolled on violently until she came to a natural stop and her mask broke. Midori stayed on the ground and didn't move. She knew she wasn't hurt that badly, but just for a split second she was reminded of her old captain. The hard impacts of the ground reminded her how he treated her every day. Midori was so wrapped up in her fear that she didn't notice all of the others rushing to where she had fallen. Shinji and Roes knelt to her body and the others stood back to see if Midori got up. Mashiro flew down to the others,

"What's wrong? Did I hit her too hard?" Mashiro asked childishly

"Do ya have to ask? She's on the ground and she's not moving; what does that tell ya?" Kensei asked wit ha snap. He wasn't mad at Mashiro, but he didn't like seeing anyone of his friends on the ground. Shinji looked into Midori's eyes. They weren't looking at him, they were petrified with fear. He had never seen her like this before. He placed a hand on her shoulder. He hadn't noticed before, but she was shivering.

"Hey, Midori, can you stand?" Shinji asked gently. Midori didn't answer. Shinji looked over her body for some sort of injury, but none were so terrible to stop her from moving. "Midori, you're not hurt, c'mon get up. You're okay; Mashiro didn't mean to hit you so hard." Midori's eyes seemed to see the others for the first time. The fear faded from her vision and she started to move a bit. She sat up trying to shake off the last essence of fear. She looked up at everyone,

"Sorry, to have scared you guys. I'm fine; I just needed to catch my breath." Midori said trying to make them forget what had just happened. Midori stood as Shinji still knelt still surprised at how her moods changed from petrified to happy in just one second. Shinji stood watching Midori dust herself off,

"Midori, are you alright? You looked terrified after Mashiro hit you." Shinji commented wanting the truth from Midori.

"I'm fine, don't worry. I just got the breath knocked out of me is all." Midori said freely. Midori had acquired some cuts and bruises, but nothing she couldn't handle. "I'm sure Hachi can fix me up later if I need it." Midori did have one huge bruise on her chest from where Mashiro kicked her, but it wasn't that bad apparently to her. The others nodded, not completely believing Midori's façade. "C'mon Mashiro, let's get back to training. I'm going to have to if I'm going to catch up with you." Shinji didn't believe one word of what Midori told him. He saw she was afraid of something and he was going to find out what it was. Shinji returned to his own training, not taking his mind off of Midori's gaze.

_Midori's green eyes sparkled with tears. Her captain was about to end it. He was going to end the pain, the suffering- everything. Midori had long since resigned to her fate to die at her captain's hands. Midori closed her bruised eyes and was ready to die. A bright light made her open her eyes to see someone else at the door. It was Captain Unohana. She was disgusted and angered at what she saw before her. _

_ 'Please forgive me Captain Unohana. I didn't mean to cause such disgust for you.' Midori whispered as her eyes shut for what she thought would be the last time. _

Midori shot up in her bed with a short scream. She put her hand to her chest to her pounding heart. She looked around at her surrounding and remembered she was not in squad ten anymore. She wiped the sweat from her forehead. It was that nightmare again. Midori did not get up immediately. She waited for her heartbeat to return to normal. If she didn't Shinji or someone would ask her about it and she'd have to make an excuse. Midori got up from her bed and stretched slowly. Her chest was still sore from where Mashiro had hit her, but she would be better in no time. Midori walked out of her room just as someone else was going to enter her room. She looked up to see Shinji standing above her with the same grin he wore everyday.

"Hey there, Dori, what's the rush?" Shinji asked carelessly

"No rush, I just woke up and I was going to see if anyone else was up too." Midori said hoping Shinji didn't hear her scream.

"Well I'm up, how's your chest?" Shinji asked

"Fine, it'll be fine in no time at all." Midori answered quickly

"Good, and while I've got ya, I heard a scream around here somewhere. Do you know who it was?" Shinji asked suspiciously

"Uh…yeah that was me. I screamed in surprise, I forgot my chest was sore so when I stretched it hurt and surprised me." Midori lied

"Uh-huh, well be more careful next time, I don't want ya goin' about and hurtin' yerself again." Shinji said with a wink. He ruffled Midori's hair and took off in another direction. As soon as his face was out of Midori's sight his smile turned to a frown, Midori wasn't even close to telling him what was going on with her. Shinji wondered why. Midori had always talked to him when she was down; there was something wrong with her. Midori went to sit at the small table in the main area of the shop. She waited to be joined by someone else. She hoped Shinji wasn't too worried about her. He seemed to be paying extra attention to her lately. Midori was surprised by Kisuke walking into the room and sitting across form her.

"Uh, hi Kisuke." Midori greeted

"Hello, Midori! I've decided that since all of you have been working so hard to train you should go out a buy some new clothes!" Kisuke told her.

"What?" Midori asked confused

"Well, I've heard the comments about the clothes I've gotten you guys so I'm going to let you all chose what you want to wear! It sounds great doesn't it?" Kisuke exclaimed excitedly.

"Uh…sure, why not Kisuke." Midori said unable to say anything else. As soon as the others had awakened from their sleep Kisuke greeted them with the same idea. Kisuke directed them all to where they could find some clothes and pushed them off with a wave.

"Man, what's up with that idiot this morning? I have training I need to get to." Hiyori asked crossing her arms over her chest.

"Quiet down Snaggletooth, it's too early for you to be yapping away already. Plus you should be grateful that Kisuke is willing to buy us all new clothes that we actually like." Shinji said with his hands shoved in his pockets, slouching tiredly.

"Do you wanna die again baldy?" Hiyori asked shaking an angry fist at him.

"Shut up both of you, let's just get some clothes and go back so we can train some more. Besides, a break isn't going to kill us." Lisa said annoyed.

The motley group entered what was called a 'mall' and started to look around. Lisa proposed the girls and boys split up so they don't have to deal with the opposite gender's stores. Lisa led the way for the girls and Shinji led the way for the guys. While they were off doing whatever, the girls stopped by a store Lisa knew would have what they needed. Midori didn't know what to look at. She wasn't goo with fashion or deciding things. She watched happily as Lisa came out in a new outfit. It was like a school girl's uniform. It was green and had a green skirt with a pink ascot thing. She changed her hairstyle too. Instead of two braids it was one and her glasses changed too.

"Well what do you think?" Lisa asked

"I like it; it looks great on you Lisa." Midori complemented her friend.

"And what about me?" Hiyori asked walking to where they were. She was wearing a red jacket and red pants with a white shirt underneath it with sandals. Her pigtails were shorter too, "Aren't you gonna suck up to me too?"

"Yeah, Hiyori, you look great too. I like your hair." Midori said sweetly. Mashiro ran out to where they were 'flying' around like she was a superhero. She was wearing a jumpsuit with a small scarf and her hair was straight and she had different goggles.

"Look, I'm Mashiro!" she said excitedly

"I know, it looks good Mashiro." Midori said nicely. Lisa shoved Midori along into a dressing room and threw in the clothes she wanted Midori to put on,

"It's your turn Midori! I know how to dress others and these clothes will definitely suit you." Lisa said confident in her choice for the girl. A few moments passed and Midori did not come out. "Midori, are you okay in there? You don't need help do you?" Lisa asked

"No, that's not it! Are you sure I should were this Lisa?" Midori asked from the other side of the curtain. Lisa slid the curtain aside and looked at the clothes on Midori. She was now wearing a white shirt that cut off at the shoulders and had a ruffled fabric hanging down from where it ended at the top. A thin black belt was wrapped around her waist and she had on blue shorts that were a little to short for Midori's liking, "I think it's a little to revealing, Lisa, I don't know if-"

"Nonsense, you look great! I hear that this is the kind of style people like around here. We might as well try to blend in." Lisa said pulling Midori along. They all paid for their clothes and looked about to find the boys. The group of girls eventually found them, but they hardly recognized them. Kensei was wearing a sleeveless shirt with cargo pants and boots. His hair was shorted and he had piercings on his eye brow. Rose was wearing a white ruffled shirt and a black jacket and pants. His hair was untied and looked neater. Love had shaped his afro differently, more like a star and his glasses changed too. He was wearing a bluish work out type suit. Hachi had a light bluish green suit with a new hairstyle. Shinji surprised all of them. His hair was not jaw length and he had on a dark orange button down with black pants and a hat. Midori was the first to speak,

"Wow you guys look, amazing! I hardly recognized you!" she said with a laugh of surprise. The boys didn't respond as they were just as surprised by the girl's changes too.

"You look great too Dori, you didn't pick that outfit yerself now did ya?" Shinji asked

"No, Lisa chose it for me and I didn't have a choice." Midori said with a blush.

"I'll remember to thank her for that." Shinji said to himself.

"Now that we've gotten our clothes, can we go now? I still need to defeat my hollow!" Hiyori said angrily.

"Fine, fine, fine calm down Snaggletooth, we'll go now." Shinji said. He was met with a slap to the face. "W-what was that for?" Hiyori clutched a flip-flop in her hand

"I just thought I'd try this out on your face. I think I'm gonna like these shoes." Hiyori said with an evil smirk.

"Hiyori you can beat up Shinji when we get home, let's go." Kensei said walking ahead. Mashiro skipped up behind him,

"Do you like my new outfit Kensei? Do you, do you, do you, do you, do you?" Mashiro asked again and again

"Shut up! I'm begging to like it less and less." Kensei shouted at the green haired girl. Midori followed them to the door, but something caught her eye. She saw a read hair tie that had red beads all round it. It was really pretty it sparkled in the light. Midori stared at it drawn by its beauty.

"Take a picture it'll last longer." Shinji teased sneaking up behind her. She jumped up startled,

"I was just looking!" Midori said innocently

"Why don't you buy it, if you like it so much?" Shinji asked

"Oh, I don't need another hair thing. I've already got Rose's barrettes. I couldn't stop wearing them." Midori said walking away from the hair tie. "C'mon let's keep go-" Midori was interrupted as she was plowed over by a huge guy in her way. She sat up from where she had fallen on the ground.

"Hey watch where you're going!" the man ordered angrily. Midori nodded and got up from the floor.

"I'm sor-"

"Don't apologize to him Dori, it wasn't your fault! You've got nothing to apologize for." Shinji told her standing beside her.

"Stay out of this, pretty boy." The man said as he aimed to hit Shinji, Midori stood in the way and stopped the man,

"Shinji it's alright, I really wasn't watching where I was going." Midori said

"No it's not alright, this bastard ran into you and owes you an apology!" Shinji said as angrily as the man. The man heard and backhanded Midori out of the way. Shinji looked up in complete fury. Shinji looked to where Midori was. Forgetting about the stupid man in front of him he went to where Midori was. She wasn't moving. Shinji heard the rest of the group coming back to help Midori and challenge the man who hit her. Shinji saw that Midori's eyes carried the same petrified look as before. "Midori, are you alright! Midori!"

"I…I can't move." Midori said with small tears forming in her eyes.


	5. Chapter 5

The tears and the terror in Midori's eyes nearly scared Shinji too. Midori was collapsed on the ground petrified. This was just like when Mashiro hit her. Midori had never done this before they came to the world of the living. Shinji could see that Midori was shaking. He had to get her out of this state if she kept shaking like that she might end up sick or something. Shinji went to take a hold of the girl's thin wrists, but she flinched back,

"Please….don't hurt me…"Midori whispered. Shinji drew back. Did she actually think he'd hurt her? No, she was talking to whatever she was seeing. She wasn't talking to him. Shinji took her wrists gently this time, trying to get her to move,

"Midori, it's okay now, you're fine. He won't touch you again, you're fine now." Shinji said trying his best to comfort her. Midori's eyes weren't looking and her ears weren't listening. Shinji let go of her wrists and took hold of her face and firmly yet gently turned her face towards his and held her there until she actually saw him. "Midori look at me." Midori's eyes came out of her trance, "You're fine." Midori's eyes looked at Shinji in what seemed to be relief from what she saw earlier in her mind. "Now, we'll get up together okay." Shinji told her. Midori nodded not trusting her voice. With a bit of help from Shinji Midori was up on her feet again no longer shaking and no more tears or fear clouded her vision. Midori dusted herself off. She suddenly came back to her senses, but Shinji was still so confused and concerned for Midori, "Midori, are you alright." he asked sternly. Midori looked up with bright eyes,

"I'm fine, thanks for helping me Shinji. That guy just surprised me, I sure didn't expect that." Midori said as playfully as she could. Shinji frowned at this,

"Midori…" Shinji turned his attention to where the rest of the group had beaten the man from earlier down until he was unconscious.

"Well he won't be handling any women for a while." Lisa said triumphantly. As she clapped her hands together as if to dust them off after a good fight.

"You alright Midori?" Kensei asked, "Ya went flying pretty hard."

"I'm fine thanks to you guys!" Midori said happily. There was a bruise forming where she was hit, but it was covered by her hair. Midori went up to brush her hair back, but she realized that something was missing. She found one of her rose barrettes were missing, "My barrette." She said looking around. She went searched looking for the accessory, but found it near the unconscious man's foot crushed into shards of what it once was. Midori nearly wept over the broken hairpiece. Rose knelt next to her,

"Don't worry Midi, we can get another barrette here in the world of the living, you weren't going to wear those forever, were you?" Rose asked

"No, but they still meant a lot to me, they kept me happy whenever you guys were gone back in Soul Society." Midori said looking sadly at the broken treasure.

"I'm sure we can find you another thing to wear in your hair, it isn't that bad." Rose comforted the ex-lieutenant. Shinji stood by silently. Midori's trance was bothering him. He had to figure out what was wrong. Midori seemed to rub this off as nothing, but to him if she was in any sort of pain or danger it was most certainly not nothing. Shinji glared at the thought of that man hitting her. In any other case he wouldn't hit the man back, but when she froze and didn't move he couldn't leave her. Shinji looked back to the group and saw Rose help Midori up from the ground. He noticed her hairpin was gone. It must've broken because of that jackass. Shinji heard his name called,

"Hey baldy we're going back now are you gonna stand there like an idiot all day?" Hiyori yelled. Shinji didn't respond at first,

"You guys go ahead. I'm going to stay behind for a minute." Shinji said with a lower tone. It wasn't like him to respond seriously to Hiyori. The group hesitantly left the lanky man behind.

Midori hoped Shinji wasn't too upset about that incident. The truth was that she was terrified. Mashiro's kick scared her, but being backhanded was something that her old captain used to do all the time. When she was hit she thought maybe her captain had come back. She was so scared. So many things played back in her mind at the time and she felt like she'd never escape as she was being drowned by horrible memories, but she heard someone call her name. Shinji had saved her from all those horrible times with just one call of her name. Midori looked to the ground disappointed with herself. She caused her friends so much grief by being so afraid. Why did she have to be such a coward?

"Are you alright Midori?" Rose asked noticing her saddened features,

"Yeah…I'm really sorry for scaring you all like that. I don't mean to be so afraid all of the time." Midori said shakily,

"Don't say such things Midi there's nothing wrong with being afraid. You have no reason to be sorry." Rose told her gently

"But Shinji was so angry and…" Midori was stopped

"Shinji wasn't angry with you, he was angry at that guy for hurting you. That's just the way Shinji is, I'm sure he was just worried that he really hurt you." Rose explained. "I'm sure Shinji will be his normal self in no time. Now why don't you cheer up, the sun is shining and the hollows are defeated, well at least yours is." Rose comforted. He always knew just what to say.

The group arrived back at Urahara's to train once more. The ones who still needed to tame their hollow started up, but the others took more time off out of being used to not training from the day out. Midori sat alone while she watched the others gain control. Even though she had watched so many before it was still nerve wracking. Midori sighed and closed her green eyes to get away from the fight. She heard a familiar voice,

"Oh Dori, look what I got." Midori opened her eyes to Shinji's voice and saw a small bag in front of her face. She blinked in confusion.

"What's this?" Midori asked. Shinji tossed the package in her hands,

"You'll see when you open it." He told her mysteriously. Midori opened the bag and there she saw the red beaded hair band that she had stared at in the mall. She held the precious item in front of her face.

"Shinji, you didn't have to get me this." Midori said moved by his thought

"I know I didn't, but you lost your hairpin so might as well move on." Shinji said carelessly. The truth was he took most of the time he was gone to think about how to get the answer from Midori. After much thinking he just decided to confront her when they were alone. It wouldn't be easy to find time just with her, but he had to find a way. Midori put the new hairpiece on and looked up to Shinji,

"Does it look okay?" She asked since she didn't have a mirror

"Yeah, it looks better than before." Shinji said reassuringly. Midori smiled and turned back to the fight. Shinji sat by her as his usual smile fell away.

The day turned to night even though it was hard to see since the training ground didn't change according to time. Midori was stuck with doing the dishes after dinner. She didn't really mind. She liked doing chores like that. The dishes kept her up later as everyone went to bed. Rose offered to stay up to help, but she insisted she would be able to do it alone. She thought about all sorts of stuff with all the time on her hands and thought about Shinji. He had been acting so strange lately. Then again she wasn't really acting normal either. She couldn't blame him for being angry or upset about what happened after all when they were still in Soul Society Shinji was angry when Aizen tripped her on accident. Shinji really did care about Midori, and more so than she would ever know. She was on the last dish when she felt someone behind her. She turned,

"Oh, hi Shinji, did you need something?" Midori asked sweetly. Shinji saw the smile on her face and clenched his fists at the thought of someone hurting such a kind and generous girl.

"I just wanted to talk." Shinji said sternly. Midori noticed his tone. It wasn't normal.

"Oh…alright." Midori said putting her dish down. "Did I do something wrong?" these words caught Shinji off guard.

"Why would you assume you did something wrong? Don't say that, Midori." Shinji said never wanting to hear her say such things. "I wanted to ask about those trances you go into." Midori's eyes widened and her breathing stopped for a moment.

"Oh." She said hesitantly not knowing what else to say.

"When I look in your eyes you look petrified. What is it that's scaring you?" Shinji asked without his normal accent. Midori noticed this and knew he was not in the mood for her normal act, but she could not let him know what happened when she froze.

"Well, it changes. When Mashiro hit me I lost my breath and when that guy hit me I was just surprised. It was just a startle in both of them I guess." Midori said trying to make it sound true.

"Midori," Shinji said strictly. He only called her that when he was worried, "I know the look in your eyes when you're scared and the look when you're terrified. It wasn't just a normal surprise you were terrified of something. You also asked me not to hurt you." Shinji said starting to sound angry. He wasn't in the slightest bit angry with her, but he needed an answer.

"I did…" Midori asked surprised. She didn't remember asking Shinji that. She saw her old captain no t him; she asked that monster not to hurt her.

"Yeah, then I realized it wasn't me you were talking to." Shinji said, "Who was it?"

"I…I thought I was talking to the guy from earlier." Midori lied. Shinji slammed his fist into a nearby wall.

"Dammit Midori, tell me the truth! Who did you see when you asked them to stop hurting you?" Shinji nearly demanded an answer. Shinji wasn't trying to be scary or intimidating, but he couldn't help himself.

"I…it's none of your business!" Midori cried out as she ran past him. Shinji grabbed her wrist firmly enough to stop her, but not hard enough o hurt her.

"Midori…" He asked her. She pulled away from his grip and ran to her room. Shinji cursed himself for acting so violently. He heard someone walk up behind him. He turned to see Rose, "Rose…" he greeted

"I heard you two from my room. What's going on?" Rose asked

"I confronted Midori about her trances, but she ran off." Shinji said vaguely

"Did you think that yelling at her and demanding an answer was going to help you?" Rose asked knowing better. He was a lot calmer than the other man with a more level head on his shoulders. Shinji's eyes widened a bit in realization of what he had done.

Midori lay in her bed thinking. Shinji had scared her when he punched the wall. Midori couldn't help, but be reminded of old memories. She understood Shinji's concern, but she couldn't burden him with all of her problems and tears. She was only a trouble when she cried and a burden when she asked for help. She curled into herself and shut her eyes trying to get some sleep and hoping she wouldn't be haunted by those nightmares.

_The lieutenant of the tenth division lay on the ground helpless. She was covered in bruises and blood and could barely move. Her captain stood above her. He threw her into the wall and put a foot on top of her chest and stepped down. She cried out, but her cries fell onto deaf ears. _

_ "You can cry and scream all you want, but no one will ever give a damn." That monster said as he slammed his foot down again. She screamed, but like her captain said, no one gave a damn. _

Shinji went silently down the halls of the house to where Midori's door was. He had to apologize to her. He realized that his tactics to get her to talk were wrong and trying to get to talk at all was wrong too. He knocked gently on the door,

"Hey, Dori, are ya awake?" he asked trying not to sound to disappointed with himself. He didn't hear a response and assumed she might have gone to sleep or she was ignoring him, "Okay, I dunno if you're asleep or just ignoring me, but-" Shinji stopped when he heard a scream. "Midori!" he called for her. Without a second thought, Shinji flung the door open and saw Midori curled into a ball begging for someone to stop. Shinji knelt by Midori's trembling form. She was shaking even worse than before. Her muscles tensed so much it looked like it was hurting her. "Midori, wake up! Midori it's just a dream! Midori calm down, please wake up!" Shinji tried to move her she wasn't so tensed, but she wouldn't budge. Midori pushed Shinji away, but she was nowhere near as strong as him. Shinji wasn't able to get her out of her nightmare. Shinji lifted the girl up into his arms. If he couldn't stop her nightmare he could stop her trembling. He grabbed her shoulders and held her tight to stop her shaking. "It's okay now Midori. I won't let him hurt you." Shinji told her in her sleep. He didn't know who he was talking about, but whoever it was he'd protect her. Midori's shaking calmed a bit at those words. She opened her eyes, "Are you okay now Midori?" Shinji asked. Midori didn't need to look up to see who it was.

"Yeah…" Midori said reluctantly

"I'm sorry…sorry that I yelled earlier. You don't have to tell me anything." Shinji told her

"Thank you." Was all Midori said. Shinji didn't leave right away. It didn't feel right leaving her alone like that. He kept an arm around her as they sat in a moment of silence. When Midori's shaking ceased completely Shinji turned to Midori. He gently wiped away the tears that had formed in her eyes.

"Get some rest Dori, you need it." Shinji got up and pushed Midori to lie down. He put the covers over her and left without another word. Midori closed her eyes trying to forget what she had seen in her head. Midori didn't know why he cared so much for her, but she didn't really need to as long as he was always there to care.


	6. Chapter 6

The next morning Midori awoke to the sun in her eyes. She tried to regain the memory of what had happened last night. She remembered that Shinji had gotten angry, but came back to apologize. If only he hadn't come during her nightmare. Midori sighed knowing he'd want to know what was scaring her, but there was no way she would trouble him or anyone else with her sorrow. Midori got up from her bed and changed into her regular clothes. Somehow or another sleep had come much easier than usual. After she had fallen asleep for a second time the dream she had wasn't a nightmare. It was the day she failed her first solo mission. She was sent to exterminate hollows, but one that they found had destroyed the whole search team except Midori. The guilt she felt that night was eating her up and she felt helpless.

_Midori stood under a cherry blossom tree. The moon shone through the branches as the petals danced in the light breeze. The tears in her green eyes seemed silver in the moonlight. Blood trickled down from her wrist. It had gotten caught in the hollow's hangs and she had gotten cut pretty badly. The pain didn't faze her though. The only pain she felt was the pain of losing her squad members. _

_ "How could I have failed them like this?" Midori asked herself as her silver tears finally fell. "Why couldn't I protect them?" Midori's thin shoulders shook with her quiet sobs. Suddenly a familiar called from behind her,_

_ "Hey, what are ya doin' all the way out here, Dori?" Midori turned to see that it was Shinji Hirako. She quickly wiped away her tears with her good hand._

_ "Nothing…" Midori said turning her face to hide the left over tears. Shinji gave her a look of disbelief, he wasn't fooled, "I…just came out here to think." Midori said quietly _

_ "About what?" Shinji asked _

_ "Nothing…just my first mission," Midori said sadly_

_ "What about it?" Shinji pressed on, "I heard about what happened." Midori looked up_

_ "You did…" Midori asked surprised. She had only just gotten back after reporting to her captain. She hid her wrist in her sleeve so no one knew about it not even Rose. _

_ "Yeah, before I came here I asked Rose where you were and how the mission went. Sorry to hear it went so badly, Dori." Shinji said patting Midori on the shoulder like everything was alright. _

_ "I'm sorry." Midori said_

_ "Huh, what are ya sorry for?" Shinji asked with an eyebrow raised in confusion _

_ "I…I failed my mission. A whole research party was killed because of me." The silver tears formed in her eyes again. Midori rubbed them away before they could fall. _

_ "Hey, Dori don't cry." Shinji said suddenly alarmed _

_ "I'm not crying, there's just some blood in my eye." Midori lied desperately rubbing at her green eyes. Shinji took her hand away from her face. Shinji saw the tears that fell onto her pale cheeks and stared at her with concern painted on his features, "I'm sorry…"_

_ "Don't apologize anymore." Shinji ordered, "You didn't do anything wrong." _

_ "But all of those men died because of me." Midori scolded herself. Shinji released her hand and slowly pulled her into a loose hug._

_ "Shut up." Shinji ordered gently, "You silly girl, if anyone's to blame it's the hollow. You tried to protect them, right?" Midori nodded, "Well then you did everything you could and that's all we can ask of you." Shinji told her quietly, "Let's go back inside okay. Ya need to get your wrist treated." Midori looked up in shock. How did he know she was hurt? "Yeah, ya can't hide anything from me Dori, so don't try it again, okay?" Shinji said with an amused smirk. She led Midori back inside, "Just remember Dori, you can tell me anything. I won't judge you or blame you or nothin' so just think of me as a friend." _

Midori smiled at this. Shinji was there for her even though she didn't ask him to be. He was the best friend she'd ever have and she was lucky to have him around. Midori slid the door to her room open to walk into the kitchen to find most of the others already awake. Shinji turned around with his old smile,

"Hey, there Dori you're finally awake!" Shinji said teasingly

"What time is it, did I sleep in?" Midori asked

"No, not at all, but by your standards you did, it's nine-thirty." Shinji answered. The tall man walked to her side and ruffled her hair, "You must've needed the extra sleep."

"I guess." Midori said softly. Shinji got some tea and sat at the table, "Who else still needs to control their hollow?" the room went silent.

"The only one left it Hiyori." Kensei answered.

"Is something wrong? So what if I haven't controlled it yet, I'll get it done today!" Hiyori shouted angrily. She was sort of self-conscious about the fact she was the only one who was still in danger of losing control.

"No one said that there was anything wrong; try not to stretch people's words." Shinji said carelessly drinking a cup of tea. Hiyori tipped the cup over so he might drown in his tea, "Hey what was that for snaggletooth!" The two continued to argue in the background.

"Those two never stop do they?" Lisa asked rhetorically

"Come now you two; stop all the fuss." Hachi said gently

"Might as well give up on them Hachi, their arguing will never end." Kensei said matter-of-factly

"Kensei, Kensei, Kensei, guess what, guess what, guess what!" Mashiro said happily tugging on Kensei's arm

"What, damn it?" Kensei nearly screamed

"Never mind, you big jerk!" Mashiro said with a pout

"You've got my attention and then you say never mind!" Kensei said angrily

"Love, would you stop spoiling the story for me? I wanted to read that today!" Rose whined. Love was reading the book aloud so he spoiled everything for Rose.

"Would you two shut up I'm trying to read!" Lisa said annoyed. With all the chaos Midori could only sigh and wait for someone to stop all of them. After a while of seemingly endless yelling and arguing Kisuke came to save the day.

"Alright, alright that's enough arguing for today!" Kisuke said as the yelling died down. "We have one person left to destroy their hollow and then you're all home free."

"Why did you look at me when you said that? It's not my fault that I'm the last to go!" Hiyori growled as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Sorry, I guess it was an accident." Kisuke said with a chuckle. "Anyways, I guess we should get on with it." They all returned to the training grounds as Hiyori was prepared to fight her hollow. Midori sat down by Rose while Shinji said beside her. Midori stole a glance at Shinji. He looked worried. Midori knew that despite the way Hiyori treated him, Shinji still cared about her the same way he cared about all of his friends. Midori looked back to where the force fields were being put up.

"You slept in this morning Midi," Rose said amused

"Yeah, sorry, I guess I didn't get enough sleep the night before." Midori said sheepishly

"You looked like you needed it. I heard the exchange you and Shinji had last night." Rose told her

"Oh, were we that loud?" Midori asked

"No, I just have good ears." Rose said with a chuckle. "You two are alright now, right?"

"Yeah, it wasn't a big deal." Midori said with a small smile. Rose put an arm around her, for the first time in a while Midori seemed genuinely happy.

"I'm glad; it would be weird if Shinji and you didn't get along." Rose said happy to see Midori's smile.

"Okay, the fight's about to begin. I'll be fighting first and then Yoruichi." Kisuke announced. The fight began and everything seemed to turn to chaos. Hiyori was a lot rougher than any of them had been. Time was flying for Hiyori and she still hadn't defeated her hollow. Midori hugged her knees as she watched nervously. How long had this been going on? Midori knew Hiyori was strong enough to win so why hasn't it happened yet? Midori looked for Kensei,

"Kensei, how long has it been?" she asked trying to keep herself from stuttering

"Fifty-nine minutes." Kensei said knowing what that meant. Everyone knew that when that watch hit sixty Hiyori would be out of time. Kisuke had gotten out of the barrier and Yoruichi took oer a few minutes ago.

"So, in a few more seconds we'll have no choice." Kisuke said solemnly. Midori suddenly got up,

"Hold on a second Kisuke isn't there a way we can give her more time?" Midori pleaded

"I'm not sure. Going over an hour is risky and by then Hiyori could be completely taken over." Kisuke explained carefully

"Hiyori is strong enough to win! Just give her a few more minutes! We can't give up on her! Please!" Midori begged

"Yoruichi has been fighting for a while now." Kisuke said

"What if someone else took her place?" Midori asked

"Who would do that?" Kisuke asked

"I'll fight her." another voice said. The two turned to see Shinji standing up, "If that'll give her some more time I'll do it." Kisuke looked at Shinji intensely.

"She's got ten minutes." Kisuke said. "Hachi let Yoruichi out, put Shinji in." Hachi did as he was told and Shinji faced the hollowfied Hiyori. Midori watched fearing that Shinji would get hurt. She knew that Shinji didn't like to fight his friends, but with the way Hiyori was transformed Shinji could not hold back without getting hurt.

Shinji fought Hiyori on the defense rather than the offense. He knew Hiyori would beat the hollow, he just didn't know when.

"Snap out of if snaggletooth! Get a grip!" Shinji ordered in his naturally lazy tone. "Are you gonna let a lousy hollow beat you?" Shinji kept up his sly remarks to see if he could find the real Hiyori inside the hollow. "Come on idiot! Beat your hollow so we can go to lunch!" Shinji continued. Suddenly the attacks stopped. Shinji paused.

Everything seemed to stop. Hiyori's ten minutes was nearly up. Midori held herself to keep from fainting. The earth around them started to shake and Shinji was taken out of the barrier. Did Hiyori win? The dust cleared away and a fallen, but human Hiyori was there. Everyone rushed to her side to make sure she was okay. Hiyori awoke slowly, but surely. They all sighed,

"You had us worried for a while Hiyori, are you okay?" Kisuke asked. He was met with a foot to the face as an answer.

"Oh course I'm okay, idiot! I wasn't about to let some hollow defeat me." Hiyori growled

"You know you might not have beaten your hollow if it wasn't for Midori. If she didn't beg for extra time you would have been destroyed." Shinji said carelessly

"What do ya mean? What'd she do?" Hiyori asked with a snap

"I just told you, you were on the verge of hitting an hour. Midori begged Kisuke for extra time so you'd be spared. You got ten extra minutes and you won because of the extra time." Shinji explained

"Shut up! I won because I'm just as strong as you, baldy!" Hiyori argued

"I never said you weren't snaggletooth, just thank Midori for the extra time and move on." Shinji ordered. He was hit in the face with a sandal, "Ow, what the hell Hiyori!"

"I'm not gonna follow your orders! I'll do whatever I want you're not the boss of me!" Hiyori boasted as she crossed her arms. Shinji sighed not trying to argue again. Hiyori was thankful that Midori got her the extra time, but she wasn't going to thank her.

"Well now that you all have you hollows controlled, why not take a break from all the excitement and relax?" Kisuke asked happily. Shinji turned to Kisuke,

"You know, I've been thinking, Kisuke." Shinji started

"You and 'thinking' should go in the same sentence, baldy!" Hiyori said with a smirk

"Maybe we shouldn't stick around here anymore." Shinji finished, ignoring Hiyori's comment. The others looked at Shinji confused.

"What do you mean, Shinji?" Kisuke asked

"Well you've been good enough to help us out until now. We're thankful, but I think we've got some stuff to think about on our own." Shinji said

"Where else will we go Shinji?" Lisa asked

"Yeah, Kisuke is the only guy we know in this world. Where could we possibly stay?" Rose asked as well

"We'll manage. It can't be that hard to find a place to stay." Shinji said, "I don't really feel like freeloading off of you forever." Shinji said looking at Kisuke.

"Well, if that's really what you want." Kisuke said. Shinji turned back to the others,

"So what do ya guys think?" Shinji asked. They all looked unsure of what to say.

"If you think that's what's best, then I'll go." Midori agreed first. The others slowly nodded in agreement. They had to find their own space where they could focus and train on their own.

"Alright, I won't stop you. Just remember this place if you ever need something." Kisuke said with a small smile. "I'll see you off." They all went up from the training grounds and to the regular shop.

"Well Kisuke, it's been fun. If you ever need us you'll find us eventually." Shinji said with a tip of his hat.

"I have no doubt we will meet again one day." Kisuke said mysteriously. Midori looked from Kisuke to Shinji. The two always seemed to know something that everyone else didn't. She sighed as she realized she'd never completely understand, but maybe it was better that way.

**An: sorry it's a short chapter, but I'll make it up again later. Sorry again! **


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Whoops! Sorry, I uploaded the wrong chapter thank you Alex274 for telling me! I feel stupid, but here's the actual chapter this time! Sorry! **

"Why'd you go and pull a stunt like that baldy? No where do we go?" Hiyori snapped angrily. The group was walking around town trying to familiarize themselves with the layout of Karakura Town. Shinji sighed and rolled his brown eyes.

"I told you, Snaggletooth, we've already taken enough of Kisuke's time. Besides we were gonna leave sooner or later so might as well get a jump start." Shinji answered lazily.

"So are we just gonna sleep on the sidewalk like bums for the rest of our second lives?" Hiyori asked kicking the back of Shinji's knees so he fell to his knees with a thud. Hiyori kicked Shinji's back and sent him face first into the pavement. Hiyori stepped over Shinji and kept walking. Shinji pushed himself up just enough to glare at the back of Hiyori's head.

"Damn it Hiyori, I'm not a welcome mat!" Shinji snapped angrily. Midori couldn't help, but laugh at Shinji's reaction. She knelt next to Shinji and helped him back to his feet. "Thanks Dori, at least someone here has some courtesy!" Shinji yelled in Hiyori's direction. Midori chuckled as Hiyori ignored Shinji's shouts. Shinji stopped his yelling and looked down at Midori. "You know, Dori, it's always good to hear you laughin' like that." Midori stopped upon hearing this, "Especially after what's happened."

"What, what do you mean?" Midori asked quickly. She wondered if she had confessed her problems when she was delirious from her nightmare.

"You know; the whole hollowfication thing. What else?" Shinji asked wondering if she thought he was referring to something else.

"Oh, yeah, sorry." Midori said blushing at her moment of confusion. They continued walking a bit behind the rest of the group. "Where do you think we'll end up, Shinji?"

"I'm not sure. Where ever we stop for the night I guess." Shinji answered, "Don't worry Dori, we'll be alright." Shinji assured her with his signature grin. Midori nodded with a smile,

"I don't doubt you Shinji." Midori said happily. Shinji was rarely wrong, but sometimes he acted like he didn't know what he was doing. Midori could never tell if he was seriously confused or just playing with their minds. Suddenly a roar ripped through the air and stopped everyone on the streets including the ex-soul reapers. They could all tell it was a hollow attacking the town. Rose who had been walking a bit ahead turned to Shinji,

"What do you want us to do, Shinji?" Rose asked. Shinji let out a sigh as if he were bored,

"We might as well take care of it and have a little fun." Shinji answered with a sly smile.

"I'll stick back here, not all of us need to go since it's just a hollow. Plus I want to make sure the civilians get to safety." Lisa said as she was about to run to assist the people who were screaming all around them. They decided that Hiyori, Shinji, and Midori would go take care of the hollow while the others protect the citizens. The tree disposed of their fake bodies and went to attack the hollow. Shinji made a giant crack in the mask with the blade of his zanpakuto and went to swing again, but Hiyori got in his way and delivered her own attack.

"Hiyori, I could've taken your head off, you idiot!" Shinji scolded angrily arguing with the younger girl. The two continued to argue up in the air while Midori watched them with a sigh.

"You were getting in my way, stupid!" Hiyori bit back angrily.

"Those two are going to get themselves killed if they keep arguing like that." The green-eyed girl said shaking her head in disapproval. Just as she was going to jump in and fight Midori spotted a little boy struggling to run from the commotion. Midori instinctively ran to the kid, forgetting about the hollow. It was more important that everyone was safe first. Midori grabbed the child up and started to run. The hollow spotted them and slammed a claw onto the pavement. The claw caused the earth beneath Midori's feet to tremble and she stumbled onto the ground. She made sure to keep the kid safe in her arms so he wouldn't get hurt. The kid was probably scared beyond belief because he couldn't see Midori in her current form. Midori got back up and stood in front of the kid. "Hado 73 Soren Sokatsui." The twin blue flames hit the hollow directly in the chest. Midori quickly used her distraction and got the kid to safety.

"Midori!" Shinji had seen the scene that went on below them and saw the kido launched at the hollow. Shinji quickly attacked the hollow from behind and took its attention back from Midori. "Bring it on, bone-head." Shinji said tauntingly hanging upside down. Shinji got ready to attack again, but Hiyori showed up in front of him and attacked instead, "Hiyori, would ya stop doin' that!" Shinji ordered angrily, "I can take care of this myself, monkey-face!"

"I'd like to see you try, dumbass!" Hiyori said not facing the former captain. Hiyori was about to summon her mask.

"Hiyori, don't do it you've just gotten control of your hollow, it's too soon for you to fight with the mask against an actual opponent!" Shinji tried to grab Hiyori, but she moved away.

"What do you know about it, baldy, you've just learned too!" Hiyori said as she called her mask, but the mask broke as quickly as it formed. Hiyori had not time to move and she was pounded towards the pavement by the hollow. Hiyori flew at a terrifying speed and she could not turn to catch herself.

Midori had set the boy down by a safe building and turned back to the hollow. She spotted Hiyori flying towards the ground and immediately tried to catch her. Midori saw that Hiyori had tried to summon her powers, but they had yet to develop. Midori flew to catch Hiyori in her arms and took on more of the impact that the latter as they met the concrete with a painful thud and rolled to a natural stop. Hiyori got out of Midori's arms and went back to fight the hollow. Midori got up as she dusted her clothes off. She knew Hiyori wouldn't thank her, but it was worth a shot. Midori stood a distance away from the hollow and got out her zanpakuto.

"Light the way, Mori Hotaru." She ordered her zanpakuto to reveal itself. Her bow appeared form her sword and she raised it to aim. Midori pulled back on the string as a green density arrow formed. The green-eyed girl carefully aimed, "Shinji, Hiyori out of the way." She ordered. The two others moved just in time as she released the arrow and it shot right through the hollow's skull. Midori sighed in relief and returned her bow to its original form. Shinji hopped down next to her and looked at the cut on her forehead that she hadn't even noticed.

"Are you okay, you were tossed around a bit?" Shinji asked looking at the small injury.

"I'm fine, are you?" Midori asked

"I'm okay and so is Hiyori, thanks to you." Shinji said

"It was nothing." Midori said with a wave of her hand. Shinji wiped away some of the excess blood on Midori's head with his sleeve,

"I'm just glad you managed to save the boy and yourself too." Shinji said with his regular smile. The others showed up after assuring the safety of the humans.

"Good job, Midi you got him in one shot." Rose congratulated with a wink. The three returned to their gigai. Shinji observed the damage,

"Hey, Lisa, is everyone safe?" the ex-captain asked

"Yeah, but there was some damage from a collapsed building and the rubble killed one woman." Lisa reported monotonously. Midori turned her gaze to look at the rubble and she walked towards it not caring if anyone followed her. She looked onto the deceased woman and her mind was filled with thoughts and memories. She saw herself under those rocks, but instead of the rubble there were shelves or bottles around her. Midori saw herself close to death and bleeding in the exact position that the now dead woman was in. She looked almost peaceful, but her blue eyes remained open. Midori just stood there looking at the lady as her mind flooded with visions. For some reason she wasn't scared this time. Either it was because her pain for this lady was greater for than the pain for her past or it was because at the moment Midori remembered, she was at peace. In that memory she was okay with dying and she did not care if she never woke up. In all the other memories she was beaten about and abused, but in this one she looked like she was asleep. Shinji approached Midori from the back. he knew she as a sensitive girl when it came to death.

"C'mon Dori, it's okay. She'll probably be reborn in Soul Society." Shinji tried to comfort her with a ruffle of her hair. Midori's gaze was different this time. It was as if she was remembering something. Shinji knelt next to the woman and gently shut her eyes, "There…now it looks like she's asleep." Shinji said quietly. He gave Midori a firm hug and patted her shoulder as he carefully led her back to the group, "I know it isn't easy for you to see stuff like this, but all you can do now is try to move on, okay." Shinji whispered to Midori. Grief is something that they would all have to get used to, even if they didn't want to. Midori nodded and allowed Shinji to lead her to the others. Midori didn't know why this specific memory caught her attention, but she thought it was because that was the moment she gave up. She didn't even think of Shinji or Rose. This proved to herself that she didn't disserve friends like them if she was just going to give up and lose them like that. Midori sighed at this thought. Shinji noticed Midori's sudden shift in mood, but left it alone for the time being. Midori was drawn from her memory for a moment at the sound of her stomach growling. Shinji laughed at the sound from Midori's hunger, "Sounds like someone's hungry, eh Midori?" Shinji said poking her stomach.

"Sorry, I forgot to eat breakfast this morning." Midori said sheepishly.

"Now that you mention it, I'm a bit hungry too. We've been walking for a while now." Rose commented as he realized his own hunger.

"What do you want us to do about it? We don't have any money for food." Hiyori said as she crossed her arms with a huff.

"I beg to differ." Shinji said reaching into his pocket, "As we were leaving Kisuke slipped this in my pocket." Shinji pulled out a wad of human money, "That man's slyer than I gave him credit for." Shinji said holding out the money for the others to see.

"Where do we go now?" Kensei asked, "We should try to conserve the money as best we can."

"Ooooh, Kensei, look over there!" Mashiro said jumping up and down as she pointed into the distance.

"What is it just tell us." Kensei said twitching at the girl

"Over there, over there, over there!" Mashiro said happily. The group looked over to where she was pointing and saw a weird machine. They approached it and observed it. It was like a big black bow with a glass in the front. Behind the glass there were lots of bags that had pictures of foods on them or there were pouches of what was called 'juice.' They all looked utterly confused.

"What is it?" Love asked looking over his sunglasses. Midori looked at the sticker on the side of the machine.

"This says that it is a 'vending machine' and it is for quick snacks." Midori summed up what the sticker actually said.

"How do we get it out?" Lisa asked looking closely at the bag labels.

"The directions are right here, how convenient." Hachi said as he pointed out a second sticker.

"It says insert money first." Rose started. Shinji took out a bit of money and put in the amount that the machine asked for.

"Then press the numbers corresponding to the food you want." Midori continued

"Well…uh, what do you guys want first?" Shinji asked. They all agreed on a bag that had something called 'chips' inside. Shinji did as the instructions told him to do and the bag fell from the clasp in the machine.

"Now what?" Hiyori asked impatiently

"Reach in and get it." Kensei ordered Mashiro.

"Okay." Mashiro did as she was told and grabbed the bag from the machine. They all looked at the bag in amazement.

"Who knew that humans could invent such handy food devices?" Hachi asked interested.

"Well, I doubt that this will be enough for all of us." Shinji said looking back at the machine, "I guess we just buy more." They continued to buy food until there was enough for everyone. They sat off the side and ate the food happily and still amazed by the machine. Midori let her mind wander back to that memory. She sighed unhappily at the thought of her weakness. Midori's thoughts were interrupted, "C'mon Dori, cheer up. There's nothing else you can do." Shinji said nudging her with his shoulder. Midori looked back at Shinji with a small smile,

"Sorry, I guess that I'm feeling a little sentimental today." Midori said with a chuckle

"What do ya mean by that?" Shinji asked curiously

"Nothing, never mind." Midori said resting her chin on her hand in thought.

"Try to forget about what happened and focus on now, 'kay Dori." Shinji said as he shoved a chip into Midori's mouth. "Just eat and smile." Midori took the chip and tried to keep her mind off of the memories and the day's events.

The group continued on until they were a ways outside of the main part of town. They were focusing on looking for a place to spend their time and train. The most important thing was to find residence and keep it hidden. Shinji led the way, but Midori noticed it seemed as if Shinji knew where he was going. It appeared that he had a specific destination he had in mind.

"I say next time we eat, we get something a bit more filling." Rose said with a sigh, "Not that I'm complaining, that machine was rather interesting."

"I'm sure there are plenty of other places to eat other than a machine outside." Lisa commented, "I saw a couple of people walking around with bags of food to cook with and stuff that was already made. It looked interesting."

Suddenly Shinji came to a stop, making the rest of the stop as well. They all looked at what Shinji was stopped to stare at. It was a good sized shed in that looked abandoned. There were lots of others that were nearly identical to it and everything looked run down and beaten. Shinji smiled at that building and walked towards it a bit,

"Ladies and gentlemen I give you our new home." Shinji said motioning to the shed. The group was silent, not knowing what to say.

"It's a dump." Hiyori said bluntly.

"Well, with a little furnishing and paint it'll look good as new." Shinji said turning to face the group with his usual mysterious grin.

"Why this building?" Midori asked from nowhere.

"What do you mean Dori, don't you like it?" Shinji asked feigning hurt

"It's not that. I'm just wondering why it's this specific building rather than that one or that one or any other." Midori asked, "What's so special about this one."

"Oh, I just have a feeling this one is the best." Shinji said with a cunning tone.

"Shinji, what are you planning?" Rose asked already knowing that his friend had a plan of some sort. Shinji shrugged his shoulders,

"Hey, what makes you think I'm always planning something?" Shinji asked innocently

"Just a feeling." Rose said knowingly.

"Well, let's go check it out!" Shinji said heading towards the building. The others followed suit and opened the doors of what might be their new home.

**A/N: So this chapter is kind of uneventful, but this is leading up to the vizards making themselves at home and then guess what else is to come...I'll give you a hint: Ichigo Kurosaki. What does Ichigo have to do with this you ask? Well you'll see in a few more chapters! **


End file.
